BENGALURU: DGP Sathyanarayana Rao, who was sent on leave following allegations of providing special treatment to some VIP inmates, has sent legal notice to former DIG (prisons) Roopa threatening defamation suit.
The legal notice was issued after Roopa framed bribery charges against Rao and also leaked the report to various sections of media. The allegations suggested that Rao had received `2 crore to provide VIP treatment to AIADMK leader Sasikala who is serving sentence in Parappana Agrahara central prison, Bengaluru.
After Roopa’s allegations made national headlines, she was transferred as commissioner for road safety and traffic and Rao was asked to go on leave. Rao also had issued notices to Roopa for leaking information to media.
Commenting on the notice, Roopa said, “I have received the notice but I have only done my duty. There is also a complaint registered in Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) and I think they will have to look into it. There is a confession statement of one Australia Prakash (VC Prakash) given to Delhi police in connection with Election Commission bribery case. But Delhi police will only investigate what is there on their platter. Australia Prakash apparently knew the jail officials and acted. This case will throw light into the corruption allegations charged by me. ACB has to consider it during the investigations.”
What is the statement?
The statement was issued in connection with bribery charges levelled against AIADMK general secretary TTV Dinakaran. He had allegedly tried to bribe Election Commission officials to get two leaves as party symbol. Delhi police is probing the case.V C Prakash confessed about his connections with jail officials and how one Mallikarjun sought his help. In his statement, Australia Prakash said, “I met a businessman named Mallikarjun in Bengaluru and got to know that he is close to AIADMK general secretary TTV Dinakaran. To have better business prospects, I wanted to have a good relationship with Mallikarjun. Whenever Mallikarjun came to Bengaluru, he used to call me and we became close. Mallikarjun also asked me to help organise a meeting with Sasikala in the jail as I knew some jail officials.”
The statement was registered on May 22 with special crime wing of Delhi.